Asthma Review yesterday. Peak flow surprised asthma nurse - not as good as had hoped after 6 months of Clenyl Modulite.
Put me on Seretide. One puff, twice a day. Salbutamol up to 4 times a day.
Peak flow thingy too for readings.
What is a good reading cos yesterday had 190. Last night - 290. This morning 220.
Puffing Billy. xx
Hi, it varies from person to person, on a good day for me i get 450 but that is known as quite high, when having an attack mine drops to 250 no lower. Con thinks it due to years of woodwind playing.
What peak flow do you get on one of your best days and i would say that is your personal best.
Somewhere you can get a chart that tells you what peak flow you should have based on your height and weight, asthma nurse will have one of these.
Plumie
You can get a chart of ""normal"" values here:
It depends on your age, height and sex, but, as Plumie said, it's more useful to know what your own personal best is, so that you can tell if things change.
Moira,
Re:felix's message, once on the website, click the big red bar under the chart for a interactive prediction.
HI,GRANNY MO,it depends on your age and height etc. im 44 and my lowest is 300 so far and just hit 500 with add on inhayler.3 altogether. usealy 300-450 xxx
It's very important to know what your personal best peak flow (PF) is (i.e. when you are well) rather than relying on projected values which at best can be used as a guideline.
My personal best is well in excess of the expected value for my age/height/weight, so if I'm at 50% of my personal best, my PF may still look OK but a bit low, when in actual fact I need to be in hospital and will be seriously unwell.
I'm surprised you haven't been asked to measure your own peak flow readings before. Have you been given a PF meter? Do you have a peak flow diary? You can order a diary if you don't have one from: tinyurl.com/mpdacd (it's the asthma UK site). I've almost completed my diary (just over a year's worth of twice daily readings) and it's useful to look at patterns and see how things have changed.
If you know your 'normal' it can be (dependent on your type of asthma - I know some people with brittle asthma have no warning) much easier to spot when things are beginning to go wrong before you reach crisis point.
Forgot to say - Plummie, the bit about woodwind playing is really interesting. My consultant has said that my best PF is well in excess of expected (I'm actually outside the normal range) - I wonder if it's the same for me as I played the euphonium (baby tuba!) for years as a child and right through to my undergrad years. Would be interesting to know. Maybe I should take it up again!
Peak flows are well according to the Dr I saw today a waste of time, actually he's more like a waste of space. Do keep a record moira, and the paterns are more important than the figures,although i still don't know when the pattern becomes a concerne, mine can go from 745 in the night to 600 in the morning and back again without even a raised eyebrow.
Woody-som - that's where an individual asthma action plan comes in. It will tell you what to do at what stage based on percentage peak flows and/or symptoms. The numbers quoted in the AUK action plan are:
Zone 1 (under control) - PF>85% best
Zone 2 (getting worse) - PF between 70% - 85% best
Zone 3 (much more severe) - PF 50% - 70% best
Zone 4 (emergency) - Doesn't give PF, but it would be below 50% although you have to take into account other symptoms, i.e. if you can't talk in full sentences etc, it really doesn't matter what your PF is, you get help.
Peak Flow Diary...
I keep a Peak Flow Diary on my MacBook. Because I have brittle asthma the readings, when shown on a graph, go up and down like shark's teeth, but I can tell at a glance when I am developing a chest infection. This is invaluable to me as I am allowed to self medicate anti-biotics, and because a chest infection causes my condition to rapidly deteriorate it has on more than one occasion been a life saver.
Keeping a Peak Flow Diary may be tedious, but it could save your life!
I would agree with the others on this. I have brittle asthma (type 2) we think and can have dramatic changes in peak flow in a short period of time but I have found that I can also use my peak flow readings to predict a chest infection or other flare up.
My ""normal"" reading when well is 500...apparently quite good for my age etc but at the moment I am struggling to get above 350 which is why I've been referred back to the hospital consultant.
The pattern is very important as has been said and it can help you ""tune in"" to your asthma and when things are starting to go wrong.
Good luck
Fee
ratty, thanks, I did have an action plan, but when I was put on seretide last winter, that got scrapped as I was told not to double it, but anything below the 80% region to come see the GP or asthma nurse. Last week I did double it as the license for salmeterol changed earlier this year and can be used in the higher doses now. It made no difference anyway. I told the Dr that the ventolin made no difference either, and he said not surprising as there's nothing for ventolin to do, the airways are already open.
Grafxart; I also keep my PF chart and symptoms on the laptop (what software do you use, I use Asthma Assistant, but that's windows based), and take that with me everytime, and your PF chart sounds just like mine, sharks teeth, not how I describe it, but perfect fit. I always say it looks more like a seismograph readout for a force 9 earthquake, except now, like someones bungee jumped off a bridge. I knew the signs last week, and hoped the extra steroid would have worked.
One reason I think he didn't prescribe any thing else was that he said i was on a higher level of meds than he liked, what!, seretide 125 2x2 daily and montelukast, high, he needs to see what some of the others on here use.
Peak flow
Peak Flow Meters 
Change in Peak Flow Readings
Keeping a peak flow record 
